[Action; for Rasler]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Out of a first floor window, Ashe gazes out across Warjilis. The distant ocean sparkles as if beckoning, revealing no indication of the pressing pirate threat which grips the port city. Masts of ships stand to attention in the harbour, flagless and still. The princess looks, but sees nothing. Her eyes are glazed over, vacant and reddened.

Beside her, Shain slumbers in a linen-lined basket. His mother stands still save for one hand; slender fingers stroking those of her son. Ashelia now watches him, listens to the boy breathe. Filtering out the sounds of men working and unloading below isn't difficult - in the face of the impending journey to Terra, what does this new governance matter compared to her loved ones, to the prospect of...

If her fingers tremble now and again, she doesn't notice it, nor the wetness trailing down one cheek. Only the warmth of her innocent, sleeping child.]

Comments

Agh, html ;;

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Standing there by the bed and basket atop it, there's no regal pride. Queen, wife and mother Ashe may be, but despite her many great accomplishments she's still a girl, one whose past forced to grow up too fast. One who fears happiness is about to be snatched from her in the cruelest of ways, who fears for the lives of her husband and son. Her grace, however, remains.

At the touch to her arm she turns to him, her throat as tight with emotion as it was the very day she watched him disembark in Alexandria all those months ago. Rasler deserves her complete honesty, Ashe won't try to hide her fear, though her eyes can't quite meet his. With all the prince's efforts since their very recent move to the port, she isn't sure exactly how much he's hearing over the network.]

They mean to see us returned home within days... everyone speaks of it, and -

[She breaks off, unable to finish.]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Her hands have not stopped trembling even as they shift, come to rest at his sides. She tries not to think that this - all they share together, had somehow regained - is about to end. A thought which chokes her as her teary, gray eyes lift to meet his.]

I... I'm not ready... for goodbye.

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

I want to believe you...

[Feeling his hold tighten on her she responds in kind, wrapping her arms around his torso. Stability, security, and she doesn't want to let him go in any sense of the term. Ashe's breath shudders; he swears to reassure her, but there's no way he can be certain.]

Rasler-

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[This isn't goodbye, here and now, so why does she feel compelled to speak, to tell him everything she should have said the first time they were parted but didn't have a chance? Ashe inhales deeply, cherishing his scent, his embrace. One hand lifts to cradle his head, stroking soft hair with the utmost tenderness. If he wasn't holding her, sorrow would surely have her knees failing; just as it had when she learned of his fate. The fate he would likely return to face.]

If we are returned - what of our son?

[She can barely see for tears, and closes her eyes against them.]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Regardless of the uncertainty, he's right. In their embrace she swallows, claming herself somewhat, and nods in understanding. To despair is to admit defeat, when it's possible they might all return to Dalmasca, together. Something's been playing in her mind, however, through the fear. Sharing this with Rasler may give him the same hope it's alighted in her.]

When we were trapped in Memoria... I had a vision unlike the others; not of the past. I saw you and I ruling Dalmasca together... with Shain, and four more.

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[It isn't difficult to pull the images to mind - they had engraved themselves upon her memory. Against the sorrow and tear-stained cheeks, she manages a small smile for him, for this hope she's not spoken of until now.]

Yes... he had. A boy of ten or eleven, so wanting to be a man.

[Ashe reaches up, tentatively, to stroke his cheek with the backs of calmed fingers.]

He had a brother, close in age to himself. Both... looked so like you. The other three... they were our daughters, Rasler.

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

They did have mine, save for the youngest. Hers were yours. ...They shone with a beauty beyond my possession.

[She reacts, tilts her head upward without thought, allowing his lips access and wanting to look upon him.]

That could be our future - It's possible, isn't it?

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

As have I. Rasler...

[Holding him just as tightly, she mirrors his movement and rests her head against him, eyes closed, picturing that perfect vision. It may only be a dream, but it's something to hold on to.]

Whatever the future, I... I will love and honour you for all of my life.

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[After he speaks, Ashe falls into a silence broken only by her quiet, irregular breathing. His plea has her conflicted; to ask such proves he loves her, so very much that he wouldn't want her to live a life devoid of feeling her own love returned. But no, she's defiant. How could she ever feel this way about another man? She can't, won't -

Dampened lashes settle against her cheeks, her gaze locked away until she can find the strength to return it to his own, and she squeezes his hands in equal measure.]

... I know why you ask this of me, but I -

I could never find it in myself to love another. Not after... None could ever touch my heart as you have.

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[She breathes in deeply, gathering composure. He's right, and Ashe knows what she must do; be strong, not for herself but for her husband and son. Taking a gentle hold of his one free hand with both of her own, she leans in so that their foreheads touch once more, noses brush, her words a soft whisper.]

Forgive me for reacting so, only I...

[No, strength, Ashelia. She trails off with a quiet sigh and touches her lips to his.]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Softly she kisses him, but there's one more thing she has to voice, and Ashe lifts her lips temporarily from his.]

If we are returned to Dalmasca I will see Nabudis restored. Your kingdom may reclaim her glory, her beauty... and the refugees of Nabradia may return to their rightful home. This I promise you, Rasler.

[And she leans back into slow kisses, trying and slowly succeeding in leaving the troubling thoughts behind her.]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Ashe settles easily upon Rasler's lap, in his possessive hold, pressing against him in response to that low sound. When he shifts she's pulled with him, fingers weaving through the prince's soft locks.]

For our people. For you...

[The instinct to return his kisses proves too strong to resist, Ashe's lips parting, allowing him entrance.]